MUSIC DIRECTOR'S APPEAL 2019

Rush Hour #11: Unleashed

Beethoven described his Eighth Symphony as “unbuttoned”; today we might think of it as being like a double espresso. Small in form but serving a brilliant intensity of innovation, the symphony shows a radical composer experimenting with textural, rhythmic and harmonic elements. Then, with the brain buzzing from musical caffeine, thoughts turn to an array of loose ends that Beethoven leaves deliberately untied, extending the music’s impact beyond the live performance.